Vehicle Research

2018-MY Truck Order Cut-off Update

March 23, 2018
• by Staff

Image of 2018 Ram 5500 Chassis Cab courtesy of FCA

Order cut-off dates for key 2018 model-year fleet truck models, including Ram, Ford, and Chevrolet, are quickly approaching. Fleet management company Wheels, Inc. has provided a summary of important truck order cut-off dates, as well as details on some delivery delays.

April 12 is the order cut-off for the following models:

Ram 1500 Regular Cab Express

Ram 1500 Regular Cab Tradesman

Ram 1500 Regular Cab SLT

Ram 4500/5500 Cab Chassis

April 26 is the order cut-off for the following models:

Ram 1500 Quad/Crew Cab Express

Ram 1500 Quad/Crew Cab Tradesman

Ram 1500 Quad/Crew Cab SLT

In addition, these truck models are experiencing longer-than-average production lead times.

Ford F-150, Super Duty, and Transit vans

Ram 1500/2500/3500/4500/5500

Chevrolet Silverado

Availability for several models is already low and may continue to decrease further, because trucks continue to be in high demand due to low fuel cost and housing/construction projects on the rise, according to the fleet management company.

Several OEMs are experiencing delivery delays. Seasonal delivery delays typically occur as a result of increased demand for railcars, and recent derailments have caused rail traffic to be slowed or re-routed in some areas, increasing transportation times, according to Wheels.

Mack Defense recently started production of five Mack Granite-based M917A3 heavy dump trucks (HDT) as part of the production vehicle testing (PVT) phase of its $296 million contract with the U.S. Army.

Ford is investing $1 billion toward the development for several of its SUVs for the 2020 model year, including the Ford Explorer, Police Interceptor Utility, and Lincoln Aviator, which will go on sale later this year.

Toyota's 2020 Tacoma will add plenty of technology upgrades even on its base model that has been popular with pest control fleets, landscapers, and tradesmen as part of a facelift for the leading midsize pickup.

Chevrolet has unveiled its 2020 Silverado HD pickups at its Flint, Mich., factory ahead of the Chicago Auto Show, where it will show its heavy-duty pickup lineup and provide a demonstration of the new towing technology added to the pickups.

The new 2020 F-Series Super Duty will include a new 7.3L V-8 gasoline engine, a third-generation 6.7L Power Stroke diesel V-8 engine, and the standard 6.2L V-8. In addition, there is an all-new 10-speed TorqShift automatic transmission available across all three Super Duty engine offerings.